Smoke
by DemPoke
Summary: This is the story of a young girl, living in the past few days before the second Akira crisis to hit Neo Tokyo." -I've only seen Akira maybe three times, so not all of the info in the story could be exact.-
1. Life

How wonderful it is, living in Neo Tokyo. I wish that could be my life. But sadly my residence is in a crampt apartment in the heart of the Old City, Old Tokyo. I was working late at the the resturant of Chentilly's. Sort of, I liked working there, or rather being there. I got to see the better side of life in that part Old Tokyo. Though we only had a handful of customers every day, thanks to the revolution that was being taken into sorts. College students have been making riots about a revolution, that Tokyo was going to change soon, police everyday had a number of people die everyday in response. Not to mention all of the motorcycle gangs that make scenes as a daily routine. After Wolrd War III, things went spiraling downwards. Nearly everyone died when a large explosion took place, but we all knew that it wasn't caused by a bomb. Something different attacked us, something human, unexplainable. I wasn't in Tokyo at first when this happened, I wasn't even alive then. It happened in the year 1988, I was born in 2001. During the terrorist attacks put on the United States. I'm only eighteen, but of course I was working by age thirteen by how poor my family was, and how high our rent is. It's only me and my mother, but we've been through the worst of times, and we survived luckily.

Because of my choice to work late, after 5 p.m., I chose when I got off. I'm lucky to have a boss that agrees with me on most things. I was sitting in a chair near the main door to the resturant and I looked at the clock. It was three more minutes until ten o'clock. All of this for the money. The television was set to a news channel, and of course, they were talking about the riots about the college. Then they were talking about something important escaping from a laboratory. Were they talking about a small boy? Who watched the news anymore? This city was going to rot either way. I stood up and stretched out my arms. "Mizo! I'm going home now, 'kay?" I shouted out to my boss who was in the back room. "Alright Minora. Have a nice night." He responded from the room, and I dragged the sleeves of my jacket over my arms.

I opened the door and stepped out, looking around, looking to my right to see all of the buildings in the distance. They were monsterous, towering into the night sky, making that a near purple. Pollution and lights killed the stars. Another thing I didn't like about cities, no stars. I sighed, and put the black hood of the jacket over my head, covering my shoulder-length hair from other's eyes. Then I turned my head and looked around, hearing the dull buzzing of an engine. Then, as fast as I heard the noise, three motorcycles whizzed past me, except for one that fell quickly on it's side and the person landed on the pavement a few feet away from the teal bike. His buddy, I guessed, called him an idiot as he went after the rival gang member. I knew who the rival was. The Clowns. They were the only gang that ate food at Chentilly's. Being their waitress for a number of years, of course I would know what they would look like. And their uniformed jackets were all too familiar. I looked to the young boy. I couldn't tell what gang he was a part of, and I wasn't sure wether to help him.

He winced and stoof up, his knees shaking vigorously. He picked up the bike by the handles, having a hard time because of the obvious weight. He noticed me and glared, and then he started pushing the bike forewards infront of him. "Fuck..." He murmured before jumping on and starting the engine, taking off in an instant. "Fine, don't ask for help." I said to myself, watching him leave. There was nothing good about Tokyo. Not it's people, buildings, drugs. Plus the manners of most were horrid. I sighed again, then started walking down the sidewalk, thinking about all the chaos that was going on. Though most of our problems were inside the city, not in the surrounding countries around us. I think we're safe from any bombs being dropped on us.

---------

When I got home, I opened the door and walked inside, putting my bag on the small table infront of the television. My mother was talking on the phone to one of her few friends. She was never the social type to actually go up to someone in public and talk. And she worked very few hours, and she suggested I should work because I was more young and attractive. Like every mother, she wanted me to get married and have two sons, maybe a daughter. If I was ready for childrenm I would want two daughters, but because Japan is so tricky about their "population rules", they would kill the second daughter while she was still in the whomb. Of course, I couldn't take that, so for now until I'm an older age, I'd ignore about what mom tells me to do. Also, because of the state we're in, we can't even afford to pay to take care of a dog.

I walked into the kitchen and looked at a cup of ramen sitting on the counter with a small rag covering it. Beef flavored I could see. I wasn't a big fan of beef. I just left it there. I rarely had hunger, so rarely did I eat. My body is strange, I agree. I opened the refridgerator and took out a bottle of water, untwisting the lid of the bottle without a problem and drank deep gulps. The cool liquid refreshed my throat. Just what I needed after waitressing all day and night. I went out of the kitchen and sat down on my bed, the couch, in the living room, and I started changing out of my resturant uniform into my home clothes. My mom turned away, looking over at the wall, still talking, respecting my privacy even though I didn't have a room to myself. I was glad I shared a home with someone that I could get along with easily. Espeacially one that I could get along with.

I put on a long white, stained t-shirt and a pair of shorts. I laid down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, thinking once more. Many men say that a women should never think. That it wasn't healthy for them. Whatever. Japanese women were strickly discriminated, but again, whatever. Just because we didn't have our rights doesn't mean we have to hide ourselves forever. How much I wished for Japan to be halfway more respective and honorable. I reached for the remote on the couch armrest, and I pressed the red button, switching on the television. Hello Kitty was playing, how adorable. But sadly I wasn't entertained like a child, and I started flipping through the channels boredly, ending another day of my life, avoiding the chaos within the city without any trouble.


	2. Gang News

I had taken a very late shower before I went to work. I barely had any time to take care of myself. I didn't have enough time to dry my hair, and it was six in the morning. For the day, my hair looked like a ragged black mop. I had forgotten to go to a nearby cleaner's and get my uniform washed last night, so my resturant uniform was covered in brown stains. Lovely. You could tell I looked absolutely beautiful. I could only hope that Mizo wouldn't mind about my uniform. Hair, he considered, was my problem, not his. So for that he didn't really mind that much, but he was ever so sensitive about how clean my uniform was.

SInce the Revolution started, we never got much of any customers. The only ones who came and ate were the Clowns. Sadly, the Clowns were my only friends also. They were the only pure adult, and partly mature gang that I've seen. The others were either reckless teenagers, or bums who didn't give a care about anything. Cocky bastards was all they were. Clowns seemed to have more of a meaning, though that clearly wasn't the case with them. Clowns were hated by everyone. It was easy to see why. They hardly ever bathed, not very good hygeine. Also their language was terrible. Hardly any manners unless they were chasing girls all of the time. For as long as I have been waitressing for them, only two of them tried flirting with me. Their head gang leader, Joker, was there to beat the shit out of them when they did. Atleast the one that was in charge wasn't as horrible as his lower members were. Then again, the leaders changed from time to time, so anyone could be controlling them. Joker would wear the actual clown makeup, while the followers would wear helmets that would resemble something similar of a clown face, along with goggles.

This morning, only three of them were sitting at the booth near the end, the usual kind of table they would be sitting at. The Joker was actually wearing a shirt this time, under his overalls. He wasnt wearing any of the makeup though, which was good. Sometimes he was rather frightening to look at, espeacially with the condition his teeth were in. My hair had partly dried over the few minutes that I had been here, and no other waiters would show up yet. I sighed and went to my part of the counter, grabbing a pen and a thin, small pad to write down whatever they wanted. I walked over to them, recognizing their faces easily, and I stood at the end of the seat cushins of the booth. I pressed the pen point to the paper, not bothering to give them a menu. They came here every day, its not like they really needed to decide on what they wanted.

"So, what can I get you guys today?" I said, glancing up to them lightly. The other two never said anything, and that wasnt what they were there for. The Joker mostly made the decisions for them. By the way it seemed, they all looked like they had went through war. Looking shocked, and they seemed really disturbed by something. I didn't want to bother them with it, since I could sense they didnt want to talk about it.

"We'll have noodle soup." The Joker spoke out, showing a slight smile to me. "With the soup, three cups of green tea." The smile then faded and he looked down at the fainted brown color of the table infront of him. I marked down on my small paper 'Three N. soups, three G. Tea.' I looked back to the three of them. "It'll be ready in just a few minutes." I said to them and turned away, ripping the marked paper out of the pad and placing it on the counter where the cook, Kazekawa, would usually read it and quickly start making it in seconds.

Clowns were sort of my friends, and I didn't, if ever hardly, had anyone to talk to while I worked. And I've had some good, sensible conversations with them. Hard to believe, but it was possible. No one else was around to report me to be talking to a gang, so what the hell? I reached over for a chair at the small bar, then dragged it over to where the booth was. The chair legs made a terrible screeching sound on the tile floor, and I put it next to the table with the back of the chair facing the table. I sat in it what most would consider to be the incorrect way to sit in a chair. My legs jut out from the sides of the chair, and I rested my arms on the top of the other, on the brim of the chair. I lowered my head so that my chin was ontop of my arms. The Joker looked at me in the strangest way, and then he smirked.

"What do you want, Minoa?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit like it was threatened.

"What's going on with you guys? Over half of you aren't here, and you three seem pretty upset." I asked him, though really my question was aimed at anyone who would answer it. Joker looked at me, then he moved his head back, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back a little. He was probably thinking of an answer to give me.

"The Capsule Gang attacked us last night. Kaneda's little group of piglets." He responded, and I noticed his muscles and veins were tensing up in his arms. He seemed very angered about the whole thing. Who wouldn't?

"The Capsule Gang? Ive never heard of them." I asked, once more, bugging them.

"They've been going at us for a few months now. They've become our main enemy, along with the police. They wear red jackets with large drug capsules on the back. But some just wear ordinary clothes."

I nodded in some response, remembering the group of guys I saw chasing the Clowns last night. "What happened to the rest of you guys?"

"They're in the hospital. But for some damn reason, they won't tell us where. Infact, we dont even know if theyre dead or alive." He growled a little, leaning back foreward, and tapping his fingers angrily against the table.

"Damn.. Im sorry guys. Anything I could do to help?" I asked, giving him a sort of innocent look to my eyes and face. I should know that's not a good thing to do to any gang, it gave them other ideas then letting me help.

"No, not anything." He said sternly. "But one of the Capsules did get hurt. And then the rest of the gang got arrested by the army."

"Hm, and you three got away clean."

"Yep. Except, it was very strange how the one nearly died. I was watching it from a far distance away. He ran over a kid, but the kid didnt get hurt in any way."

I blinked, not really sure what he was talking about. "Are you on drugs?" I asked him, in a sarcastic tone, so he could tell I wasn't trying to insult him or anything.

Joker laughed lightly. "No, I havent tried anything for atleast a week or so. A new record."

"Anyway, which one, if you know, crashed into this invincible child?" I asked him once more, remembering the news on last night about a very dangerous toddler that escaped from a lab.

"I know he wasnt wearing the red jacket, like Kaneda does. He had a pale teal colored bike, and it was extremely dented. I think they call him Tetsuo?"

"Did he have wild hair?" I asked, thinking about the man that fell off of his bike the night before.

"Yeah. Do you know him?" He asked me, growling a little defensively at me, as thought I was a spy trying to get information out of him.

"Oh, no! Of course not. He just crashed outside of the resturant last night. I sort of saw him. He was chasing after you guys I know. He's a terrible driver if he crashes, and ran over a kid."

"Of course, he's a shitty twerp." Joker said, scratching the back of his head with the sharp tips of his finger nails. "The kid he crashed into had wrinkled, gray skin."

"Gray skin? What the hell?!" I questioned, sounding nearly amazed about this story.

"MINOA! Watch your language when you're with customers!" Kazekawa screeched at me from his kitchen.

"I don't really think they care, Kiwi." I smirked, calling him by my chosen nickname for him.

"My name isn't Kiwi.." I heard him murmur. He sounded a little disappointed. That I was kinda going for. I glared at him, then I turned back to the three guys.

"Sorry about that, he can be a pest sometimes. Anyway, what about this gray kid?" I said, he started something I absolutely had to know more about.

"He was very small, just a little older than a toddler. Either that or he was a midget. When Tetsuo hit him, there was a small sheild surrounding him, like a barrier he could make for himself in seconds. I know a bike wouldnt just explode when it hits someone."

"That's weird." I said in response. Indeed it was strange, could it really be the kid from the laboratory that escaped? There was an eery long silence, before loud dings from a bell rang out from where the kitchen counter was. "Three soups and three teas!" Kazekawa called out. I stood up out of my seat, pulling the chair back over to the bar. I quickly perched the small platter with large bowls, and another platter with the tea in each hand. I walked gently, but quickly over to the Clowns and gave them their soup and tea. "There we go guys. That'll be 1200 yen." I said, and the guy to the right of the Joker reached into his pocket and pulled out some bills and gave them to me. I smiled in return, checking to see if it was the right amount of money, then I went back to the bar, sitting down in my seat that I usually sat in. Sadly, it was right near Kazekawa.

"You shouldn't be hanging around people like them, Minoa. You could get in real big trouble by them, the police, or your mother." Kiwi told me, turning down the heat of the stove so the broth for the soup wouldn't splatter all over the place.

"Look," I started, facing him, with a small smirk on my face. "My mother doesn't know more than half the things I do when I'm not near her. Also, I can get away from cops very easily. I have my ways. I'll just slip through an alley, and they'll never find me."

"Don't be so full of yourself, kid. With this revolution going on, anyone could kill you now. I would watch out for the Clowns, and those Capsules that guy was talking about."

"So, you were easedropping?"

"How else would I have heard you curse infront of them?"

"Okay, whatever. But it seems today toddlers are more deadly than muggers on motorcycles now." I said again, looking out the huge window, perferably at the word of the resturants name.

--

For anyone who's reading, I'm having trouble putting up chapters lately. My computer doesn't have a internet connection anymore, and we're trying everything in our power to get it running. I have chapter 3 written, all I need to do is put it up. I'm using my parents computer, and they don't allow me to do much of anything on it, so it'll just be time. Keep hanging on!


	3. Daisuke

Another day of work ended a little earlier than usual. About once every few weeks I liked to take a day off early, around the normal time I was supposed to go home. I had left a little earlier than five. Mizo had given me my paycheck. Amazingly, more customers had dropped by after I had spoken with the clowns the morning before. We had atleast thirty come during the whole day. For Chentilly's, that was a resturant record. Kazekawa had planned to quit because he couldn't live on the amount of money he was receiving, though he said if the people kept coming like they did yesterday, he might stay. He was our only cook besides Mizo, who decided to do such a thing when he thought it was neccessary, like a busy night. Enough of the drama, I had enough money to pay for the rent now, I was happy. I put my jacket on and scruffed it over me securely. Since I was off early, Mom would be concerned, so in order not to ruffle her feathers up, I decided to roam the city for a little bit.

So far, my journey had been pretty uneventful. I was looking at the faces of everyone. So unique and different. You couldn't really do that at night, thanks to my workaholic nature. Cars passed by on the street. There weren't as many automobiles anymore. Thanks to the upcoming the revolution, alot of them had been destroyed. In fear, a lot of the car dealerships close by had moved out of Old Tokyo, as well as Neo Tokyo with all of the destruction. Really the only things in that nature that were around were the buses, cars of the rich, and the police. Fascinating, life in the slums. I soon got tired of my game of looking at people, and decided to cross the street. It was much brighter and somewhat cheerful. I saw people laughing, having main conversations. I smiled a bit, reminding me of my father the few times I did see him. He was always running off to America, saying he was trying to get us some money. It had been about ten years since then, and no money came. Our family, I considered, was a lost hope.

I jumped quickly, hearing the sudden crack of a gun shot. A woman screamed. I turned to see what had happened. There was a man attacking a woman, and she had fired a gun in order to protect herself. The man wore an overcoat, had a ball cap covering his eyes, and he was wearing a turtleneck, the neck sealed over his mouth. He shouted at her, and the people nearby ran away, wishing and partially knowing that the police will take care of the problem eventually. The woman kept fussing, screaming, waving her arms around. The event was taking place only a few feet away from me, and I slipped into the alley by my side incase the man had any intention that I had something valuable on me. There was a huge dumpster that I bumped into. I quickly scurried to the other side of it and crouched down, hiding myself so he wouldn't find me. I rested my head on the brick wall behind me, continuing to listen to the shrieking of the woman. This chain of screams continued, and soon I heard choking. My guess was that the man had started choking her as a way to resolve the noise. Then, everything went silent. People were crying, calling for someone to get help. I sighed, the cheerfulness had flown away like a group of summer birds. I decided to stay hidden in order to keep myself safe, plus I could have a moment to think. Who knew how my life would be. I started fearing that one day I might go home, and find my mother dead, or her gone without leaving a note. I then made the decision, that if and when I got the money, and when it was safe, I was leaving this hell hole and I was taking my mother with me. Knowing the outcomes of past problems in Japan, the revolution might kill us.

The triumphant popping and roar of a motorcycle engine made itself prominent in the distance, slowing approaching and growing louder. I thought it might have been the police, but I didn't catch a siren. Great, another gang to cause more trouble. Though they seemed to just zoom by, then one stopped near the alleyway I was taking refuge in. The engine popped and crackled as the owner turned the ignition off. He shouted something incomphrehensible, then started pushing his bike into the alley. I heard his dull foot steps, then my heart froze. I got so incredibly nervous that I had a rush of hot air blow over me, then my body felt especially cool, but a similar feeling of someone pricking me with needles. I sighed quietly, knowing that I was growing questionably faint. I looked up, and there the man was. He seemed to not notice me though, glancing over his bike and kneeling down, checking the tires surrounded by firm, black metal. It didn't look as thick and hunky as most of the bikes were. It must've been a cheap one or possibly and hand-me-down.

I sat there, somehwhat shivering, wondering if I made a move, he would freak and try to attack me. Then, I got the sense to look at the jacket he was wearing. It was a dark blue, and the helmet was white and all too familiar. This was one of the clowns. I didn't have much to worry about, unless he was one of those occasional members who was disorderly. I grabbed the wall behind me with both hands and pushed myself foreward, my right leg stretching out and pressed to the ground. I leaned most of my body on that leg and pushed myself up, standing, but stumbling slightly. The left leg came down and the man jerked his head to the side, seeing me in the corner of his eye and he jumped.

"W-What are you doing here?" He asked me, panicking.

"I've been here." I told him in a gruff. "You're the one who's invading my space."

The man seemed to relax a little and his shoulders slouched. "Heh, I know you." He replied, turning back around to his bike. "You're that girl in that resturant we go to all the time, Chentilly's?"

I nodded, but that wouldn't do good since he wasn't looking at me. "Yeah, I'm surprised my clothes didn't scream it."

He chuckled humorously, then cursed under his breath. "Shit, it has a dent. Hakishiro's going to kill me."

"Hm?" I merely made a sound, hoping not to seem nosy.

"This is my brother's bike," He exclaimed. "He said if anything happened to it he'd take it away."

"Over a simple dent?"

He nodded.

"Why, a bird flying at head speed can make a dent. It's like a normal thing of life that happens."

"Try telling him that." He told me, his attitude transforming.

"Hm, I wouldn't want to. He sounds like a perfectionist." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You're not that bad," He replied. He stood back up, firmly on his feet and turned, holding out his hand for a shake. Hesitantly, I held my hand out from my folded arm and clutched his, his skin was warm. He raised his and moved it up and down quickly. He had a firm grip, showing that he wasn't someone who was weak. You could tell so much by the way someone shakes hands. "My name's Daisuke." He introduced himself. "I know I don't talk much, but that's just the way our group is."

"I know, and you should simply know who I am, unless you're challenged." I told him, though I sounded more happy to see him than threatened.

"Heh, yeah. Minora, isn't it?" He asked, turning to look at me from the corner of his eye again. "Don't hear it very often."

"Yeah, my father made it up. He said it's his name for the ocean. My mother just became accustomed to calling me 'Minney'." I informed him a little bit about my personal life, which I agree, isn't the smartest thing to do.

"Nice, Minney." He chuckled. I knew he was trying to annoy me, like a sort of big brother would do. He wasn't that bad for a clown.

"So...," I started, trying to make decent conversation before he decided to take off any time soon. "Any upcoming plans for the Clowns?"

"Even you should know I'm not allowed to talk about those sort of things with a commoner."

"Well, I've been a friend of your group for a couple of years. Anything you guys need to keep secret will stay secret with me."

Daisuke stayed silent for a long time, a few moments, though silence can make any amount of time seem like a few hours. Eventually, he reached inside of his bike, and then he started to tell me. "We're going to ambush the Capsules." He said firmly, not sounding very excited about it.

"Why? They almost killed your friends. It wouldn't be smart to try and get revenge now."

"I know, but Joker's still pissed about them picking off half of our group. The Tetsuo kid was spotted outside of the hospital with bandages, so we're going to go and ambush him while we have the chance. That's why I have to hurry and get to them." He was done messing with his bike, and he stood up, turning to look at me.

"You don't have to join them, though." I murmured, though I didn't think he heard me. "I guess you'd better go then."

He nodded, grabbing onto his bike and pushing it around so that it was facing the street. "See you at the resturant, then?"

"Yeah." I told him. "Be careful and don't kill yourself." I joked, moving my arms behind me.

Daisuke laughed. "Riiight." He pushed the bike out into the street and turned on the engine, hopping on and putting a foot down as a kickstand. Soon the motorcycle took off and he nearly flew down the street, racing off to catch up with the rest of his gang.


	4. Hell on the Streets

Daisuke seemed like a nice guy, pretty decent for a clown. I started to wonder if being a part of the gang was something he was forced into doing. Surely none of that was really any of my buisness. To pass more time, I wandered throughout the rest of the city. Rarely did I have this opportunity. Kiwi always warned me about something bad happening to me because of the raised crime level. The crime level in the city was always terrible, though I stated the difference between me and all the other dumb broads that get themselves into situations; is that I'm smart. I know how to get myself out of situations, and I'm much more experienced in staying away from the conspicuous type. Then again, the Clowms are the closest thing I have to actual friends. Maybe I'm the dumbass here.

It was probably an hour or so before something else had happened. The police had come by and took care of the woman who had been attacked. They nearly dragged her away in the station wagon(humor) because she could barely move. Why didn't they call an ambulance? The city just returned to normal, not affected by the common crime. The sun was still high in the sky, and at this time of the year the sun set much later than normally. It was as regular as the two-hundred degree heat.

Past that hour or so, I wandered into a part of the city that I had rarely seen before. To be honest, I almost got lost past the alleyways. Chasing a few strays down the alleys, I came across a wide, mini-main street. This street was most empty, with a random car littered on the sidewalk every few dozen feet. There was shouting, and a group of people with their bikes surrounding two people. I sighed, thinking it was a fight that I shouldn't get myself involved in. I had almost scampered away from the scene, until I heard a familiar voice cry out for help. My mind sparked, trying to remember where I had exactly heard the voice before. Hearing the cry one more time, it finally came to me. It was that biker I had seen earlier, Daisuke. Remembering what he had told me about the Clown's plans, they would be attacking the Capsules. I turned quickly and hid behind the corner of a large building, looking out to see if it was really him. The group of people surrounding them wore regular clothes. They didn't look very suspicious. There was one person that was a part of them, and I recognized him immediately. It was Kaneda, the leader of the Capsules. Where these the capsules during the day? The one man that had a hold of his victim seemed to be into a blind rage. His wild hair was recognizable, and as he screamed, a faint memory of the voice came back as well. Tetsuo? That kid that crashed in front of Chentilly's? Then there was a girl behind him, crying. She only wore pants, and had one of the dark jackets hanging over her. Her shirt was torn off, and she was beaten to hell as well. What the fuck happened here?

The time that I looked over to them, Tetsuo had beaten the man he held into a bloody pulp. There was another man unconcious on the ground. I couldn't tell which one was Daisuke. Tetsuo punched the man in the side of the face, by then I heard a crack, even from the distance I was. It made me shudder. Then there was more screaming from Tetsuo. Kaneda was asking him repeatedly what was happening to him. Tetsuo drooped over, his hands clutching onto his hair and scalp, he was screaming as loud as his voice would let him. The others slowly followed him, forgetting about the two boys that were nearly dead on the ground. Tetsuo wandered around for a few feet, unaware of where he was going, and then he leaned onto a wall of a building, toppling over into the sidewalk, his limbs shaking and he curled into the fetal position, whimpering. A strange vehicle, one that belonged to the CRC, slumbered along and a few men, probably doctors, came out and surrounded Tetsuo.

While the distraction was there for the taking, I quickly slipped by, trying to look like a random person trying to get somewhere, and sadly I had to cross this street to get there. Though my resturant outfit could only make them think suspiciously of me, or help with the hoax of me not caring. Everyone was turned towards the large truck-like machine, while a helicopter flew in over head. I started to fear that since it was a police helicopter, they would take everyone that was in the scene of the crime. Then I ran towards the two people on the ground. The first was by a wall, and I didn't recognize him, though he did wear the Clowns' clothing. Then I turned around and took my attention to the other body. His face was swollen, and half of it was sickly purple, and an eye that rolled back into his head, blood was pooling around the eyelids. The only way I could tell that it was Daisuke was his hair style, and rememberance of the clothing he was wearing earlier that day when I first actually met him.

When I shook his shoulder to try and see if he was concious, he took in a deep breath, his throat sounded raspy. I feared that he was hit in the throat, crushing his air pipe. His one eye that he was able to see with, darted from side to side. After hurriedly searching for what had touched him, he saw me and tried to speak, trembling. "M... Min-" I cut him off.

"Shhh." I told him with a finger pressed to my lips. I turned quickly, seeing that the girl in the group was turned, facing me. She seemed like she was curious, though she was stricken with fear and confusion. I stared back at her for a moment, then one of the boys turned to see me.

"Hey!" He shouted at me, moving foreward towards me, though another boy in the group held him back. The police were moving quickly over to them, and I sighed.

"You have to get up." I told Daisuke, still afraid that the group would come over and do more damage to him. Then if the police got a hold of him, they would most likely hurt him(knowing our government) even more to try and figure out what happened there. He grunted, trying to pick himself. I saw that most of the damage was only done to his head, barely any damage done to the rest of him. Hopefully all I would have to do was just to lead him to safety. I rose and pulled him up on his feet. He cried in pain, though I clutched onto his wrist. He was limping, shit. Blood dripped off of his chin and trickled down my arm. There was an alley close by, and feeling lucky for such a thing as conveinience, I nearly dragged him into the narrow, empty hall.

Feeling that we were safely inside, I poked my head out to see the result. The group was being taken away, and paramedics were rushing over to the man who was still unconcious. The girl was still facing towards me, and the officials were turning her away. Did she stare at us while we left the whole time? I did feel sorry for her. I didn't even want to imagine what might've been the cause of why she looked the way she did. After a moment, they got the man into an ambulance, and the police took away the boys and the one girl. They all drove off, and I made a breath of relief that they weren't coming back for us. I glanced over at Daisuke. He was facing the pavement, his fingers digging into the asphault, coughing. I didn't see him coughing up any blood, so I figured he might be alright internally. I was still concerned about him, but if I took him to a hospital, it would probably cost something I couldn't imagine to just sit in the waiting room. The probably something I couldn't muster up for taking care of him. I remembered that my mother went to school and was a nurse for a decent number of years before the money problems came along. I ran my fingers through my hair, wondering what to do. I didn't want to leave him there.

Daisuke coughed more, and his body lifted and he set his hands on his knees, grasping his knee caps. His bleeding eye was hidden behind his eyelids now, they were closed tightly and swollen. I doubted that they could even blink. He could barely stay still, his body drifted off to the side, and he caught himself before falling over again. He was sweating, looking like he was completely defeated of his pride. I decided then that he couldn't go home by himself. I went over to him and carefully wrapped his large arm around my shoulders, letting him lean on me. He tried speaking again, all I could hear from him was a mumble. He grew dizzy and his head rested on top of mine. He was a heavy man, but if I wasn't such a twig that shouldn't have been such a problem.

I began to feel nervous, and I braced myself, knowing there would be an upcoming battle about me bringing a stranger into my mom's apartment.


	5. Battle With An ExNurse

We were hiding most of the time while I took Daisuke home. After the incident with the Capsules a few minutes earlier, the Police seemed to be raiding the whole city for eye witnesses. Rumors I had heard from the common city-folk was that the boy Tetsuo was part of a government experiment. The little idea of our government conducting experiments was nothing short of interesting and amazing. The rest of the gang had probably been taken into custody of some sort of crime. I suspected battery and contempt of murder. They only had one Clown member, and I suspected him of being dead. When I had seen him, I was starting to remember that his neck had been twisted in a awkward fashion, and he was limp, knocked out cold. I sighed. Were they going go to after the rest of the Clowns, thinking they were involved with whatever had happened? I couldn't worry about these things now. I had to get Daisuke home so he could heal and rest.

Running through alleys and jay-walking the in the streets, I soon made it home. I could hear a police siren in the distance, and I shuffled with Daisuke nearly hanging off of my shoulders. I was panting, taking deep breaths, tired and trying to calm down. Running from suspecting eyes had given me an adrenaline rush. I hurriedly helped Daisuke up the steps and nearly fell in through the door of the complex. Me and mom lived on the third floor, so another hardship awaited us. Daisuke tired talking to me, asking where we were going, if he was going to eat soon, how much his face hurt. Halfway up to our room, Daisuke ended up tripping on a thin step on the metal stairs and he twisted his ankle. Now he had to hop, which would only be more exhausting for the man.

Before we knew it, I had made it to my apartment room and Daisuke collapsed on the couch in our main room. I ran to the tiny kitchen and got a raw slice of pork. We didn't have any steak, but it was better than nothing. Then I prepared the normal bag of crushed ice. I rushed back with a towel and cleaned up his face. He had fainted from exhaustion, so I didn't have to deal with screams of agony. There wasn't much blood on his except for the few occasional drops from his eyes. I moved the pork over his two eyes, and then propped the bag of ice with the towel on the left side of his face, the side that was beaten to hell. When I had become finished with him, a stray question came up. Where was mom? Not having her constant bickering made our home a little empty.

After going into the bathroom and changing into regular, clean clothes, I threw my restaurant uniform into the tiny washer and got the machine going. That took about ten minutes, and a sudden shriek of fear quickly caught my attention. Mom must've seen the near-corpse on the couch. She slew threats of Police, and lawsuits to Daisuke, who was still passed out. I raced into the room, and my mother glared at me, pointing a strict finger at the passed out man on the couch.

"Do you know about him?!" She questioned with excitement, the inside of my ears stung lightly.

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, I saved him." I answered, going over to Daisuke and making sure the bag of ice was still propped like it should be.

"But he belongs to one of them biker gangs, I can tell by his clothes!" She hissed, rushing over to her dear furniture that was stained in some blood.

"Mom, if I left him where he was he would've died."

"Maybe that's for the better. It'd give our city some less trouble to deal with. I hate this revolution." She grumbled. I felt like punching her, she always over reacted like this. The Clowns wouldn't come after us, I knew them too well. They never did do such acts as tracking down people involved with their members.

I looked over to mom, trying to pull off the sad puppy look. "Mom, can you help him please?" I asked dearly. "He might be blind in one eye, and he's probably going through brain trauma." I tried making the most pitiful story I could think of to change mom's mind somewhat.

After what seemed like a war of dealing with her better judgment, she sighed and disappeared into her room, and came out a few minutes later with a box of her old medical supplies. She missed her job as a nurse, and she never found it in her to throw her old things away. "Alright Minney, if you love him that badly."

I blushed madly. Not only did she call me in my despised nickname, she claimed that I had a crush on the guy. I've only known him for about three hours. I stood up and backed away from the couch so mom could do what she needed to do. Out of boredom, I naturally turned on the television. The channel was on a commercial for dog food. Cartoon dogs leaped across the screen, barking and smiling, and the required happy voice of a man singing the brand name of the product in a song. I flipped through the channels, our four, fuzzy channels. Two of them were the news, my favorite soap opera.

"Why are you out of work so early, Minora?" Mom asked me, putting some alcohol on a rag and cleaned up Daisuke's face.

"Mizo let me go early. We've been getting good business all week, and I got the best paycheck that I've had in weeks."

Mom's voice seemed to get a little more optimistic than it had been. "That's great. More than the rent money?" I nodded, though I don't think saw me nod. Once again, everyone was ranting about the revolution, and then about the Government experiment that was the talk of the town. Some sentences about lost children, how the government is trying to cover everything up, and how no one is trying to prevent another world war from happening.

I heard some mumbles coming from the direction of the couch. "I think he's waking up." Mom looked over to me. I glanced over and saw his hand reach for the raw pork on his head. I smiled a little. "He's got a hurt ankle too, mom." I told her. She nodded and went down to his foot, propping it up on a pillow. Daisuke yelped when she did, I couldn't help but snicker. I didn't mean to. I guess it was just my cruel nature.

"Where am I?" He faintly spoke. Mom seemed almost happy to reply. What happened to her savage attitude?

"You're in our home. It's a two story shack, but it's something."

Daisuke smiled a little. "Sounds no different than where I live." He replied. He took a deep breath, but he started coughing heavily, as though it hurt him to breathe.

"You need to be quiet. Your throats all swollen to hell." Mom warned him, and she got up and took her remaining supplies back to her room. Guessing that he was fine, she disappeared to her tiny room. Daisuke still stayed quiet for a while, but the white noise of the tv wasn't enough for him.

"Why did you take me here?" He asked me, trying to move over onto his side to look at me, though he ended up only hurting his ankle even more.

"I didn't want you to get arrested, or die." I answered simply replied, flipping through the channels again.

"Well, thanks anyway." He said. "I thought that guy would've killed me if he went on even further."

"That's what I feared." I yawned, and lied down while being on the other couch. I propped my knee on one of the armrests, and scratched the back of my head. "Clowns won't come after me, will they?" I asked. I knew they wouldn't, but I still wanted to make sure.

"No, they're much too busy trying to survive." He sighed. "I guess the Joker and his brother are all of what's left of the gang now. Everyone else is either in the hospital or dead."

"Ouch."

He nodded. "I should go home so my brother and dad don't freak out." He tried getting up, but halfway to his goal, he decided to quit and lie back down. "You guys don't mind if I stay here a while, do you?" He asked me.

"Nope, we barely do get any visitors. As far as I'm concerned you can live off of us like a parasite."

"You make that sound like a bad thing."

"I'm not trying to."

He laughed a little. "You're not that bad at all. You got any food besides this meat on my head?"

"Nope, that's it. Enjoy."

He gave me a look of disbelief, and I smirked. "I'm kidding, There's some leftovers in the fridge. Do you want any?"

He nodded, though he seemed a little miserable. "Please do."


	6. Rush Hour

By the time it was midnight, I had taken a small nap. I didn't know if Daisuke had slept a little, too. Probably, from being beaten so badly. Maybe he was hurting so much he couldn't sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and used the bathroom. I came out and went to go drink some tap water. Everyone says city water is bad, but whatever. My mouth was dry and it felt great to drink something. The apartment was silent, all except for the people living in the room above us. They were playing music on the radio, along with their cat scratching on the walls.

I started thinking about the motorcycle gangs, and Daisuke and his family. I wondered if they were worried about him, or if they were the type of family that honestly could care less. Did they know he was even part of a gang in the first place. Maybe he did doesn't have a family. Maybe the clowns were all he had. I sighed, chugging down the last of my cruddy water. Nearly dropping the glass in the sink, I turned and leaned on the kitchen counter. As small as it was, it supported me fairly well. I couldn't keep worrying about these things. If he needed to go, he could leave whenever he pleased. It's not likely I wouldn't ever see him again. He'd be back, sitting in a booth with the rest of the gang at Chentilly's, if there were any Clowns left.

My stomach rumbled, but I knew there was barely any food left, and I should save it until I'm crawling from starvation. Leaving the kitchen and hopping back into the couch, I took another look at the man. He was asleep, from what I could tell. I closed my eyes and lied down on my side, my arm hanging off the cushion.

I was sent by the Mighty Overlord Mother (M.O.M.), to go buy some food. I didn't have much money on me, and she gave me some more. Even then it was only enough to buy the necessities. The city was full of stores on every corner. All I had to do was pick one, but then again Overlord Mom wanted the "best", so she told me to go a specific deli all the way across Neo Tokyo. That woman didn't make any sense. To get there I had to use the bus, either that or run my feet ragged walking. This was the one day of the month where I didn't have to work, so more exploring for me.

It took me a few minutes to catch up to a bus, and then I sat there. It stopped every five seconds, it seemed. This day was going to go by, very slowly. At one moment, everyone on the bus was calm, drinking coffee, controlling their toddlers and teens. Then something was blabbered on the radio, and everyone jumped. Even the bus driver seemed alarmed by it. I wasn't paying any attention, so it caught me off guard. People began to rush around, and the driver turned on the stereo and told everyone to calmly get back to their seats. I asked a woman beside me what was scaring everyone.

"It's a monster. It's on streets, destroying everything in its path!" She held her infant close to her chest, trying to keep strong for it, and planning on how she could get home safely. She turned away and looked around hastily.

The hell? A monster? Godzilla? Everyone started to scream, though they clung onto their seats. There was a loud explosion maybe a mile away. I could see smoke rising into the blue sky. The bus driver stepped on the brakes, and everyone jumped. I held onto my seat, looking out of the window to see what I could. A few moments later, without warning, the bus tumbled onto its side. I felt the back of my head pelted into the metal bar on the window. Someone from the other side of the bus fell on me. I coughed, being crushed by a larger man. Everyone was screaming, and children were crying. I heard from someone near the front of the bus saying that the driver was unconscious. During that time, my ears started to ring. Everything started moving slower, and I took deeper breaths. Pressure was lifted off of my body, and I guessed that the man that was on me climbed off.

A few moments passed, and I seemed to fall asleep while still being awake. I had no recollection of what had happened around me. One person had been shaking my arm, but I made no answer, and after a minute they left and tumbled over the seat in front of me. I moaned, and 'slept' another minute. I heard cars swerving, people screaming, and police men trying to get citizens out of the street. Finally realizing that I had to get out, I gasped and reached for the end of the seat I was sitting on. I weakly pulled myself up, and I sighed, my muscles were sore, and nearly all of my energy was knocked out of me.

The bus was on its side, so in order to look out, I had to look up. All I saw was a blue sky, and smoke. My hand clutched onto my stomach, and I climbed out of the nearest exit implanted in the window, outlined in red. It was already opened, and I pulled myself out with some trouble. I sat on the bus, looking around. Everything still seemed to move slowly, and there was a hazy white mist in my range of sight. I couldn't tell if there was something wrong with me, or if it was actually there.

I spread my arms out, reaching around, and crawling off of the bus. People were still running, one person ran into me and knocked me down. Another explosion was heard, and debris went flying. I tried pushing myself up, scrambling for my balance. I coughed even more. Looking around, my body eventually went into regular consciousness, and my mind came into control again. I was breathing hard, and I looked around, trying to find people to help me. By now, everyone was gone, and there were tanks prowling the streets. They were a long distance away from me, and I heard strong footsteps behind me. Feeling something strange, I turned to see who was behind me.

That man was odd. His hair was sticking strait up, and was wearing baggy clothes, torn and ragged. What was most peculiar was that he was wearing a red cape, like a sort of superhero. My eyebrow rose naturally, I oddly recognized him. He laughed, and I knew that voice. It was Tetsuo. What the hell? He's the monster?

No fear of the guy was present. I was more humored, what was he thinking with that outfit? Though my body was too injured and beaten for me to have my regular personality. I turned away from him and started to run. My feet were all over the place, but it still got my ass out of there. Tetsuo screamed behind me, and the next thing that happened, I was flying in the air, as well as the blacktop that made up the street. Another explosion. I hit the ground, rubble falling on me.

----------------------------

The next time my eyes opened, blood was around my head, and the sun was hidden behind buildings. The streets were destroyed, and as I rose to my feet, my clothes had become torn and dirty. The first thing that came to mind was my mother and Daisuke. They were probably worried about me. I ignored the physical pain, and started walking. Neo Tokyo, from where I was, seemed deserted. Helicopters were hovering around, spotlights searching desperately as the zoomed over the city. I didn't know how long it took me to get halfway where the apartment was. I cleaned the gravel out of my throat, rubbed an elbow, wiped dirt off my knees, and covered open wounds with some sort of clothing. People were evacuating their houses and workplaces to get away from the new danger. I was curious to know what had happened while I was passed out, but it was better not to know.

I jay-walked through streets, ran from others looting stores. I had reached my neighborhood, and I needed to hold onto a wall in order to get my head strait. Being dizzy and disoriented, I looked around, and noticed a familiar car parked in the street. It was the car of the person that lived on the floor below us. A smile came to my face, as I knew that I was safe from hell for the time being.


	7. The Last Word

Staring down into the blood stained rag, I held water in the cup of my hand and splashed it into my face. It felt nice. Mom was packing up, and Daisuke, injured as he was, was preparing to go find his family, if they were going to leave the city as well. I already had my clothes packed, and some memorable objects. Hopefully, whatever was putting us in danger, we could escape from before it could do anything to us.

I threw the rag into the bathtub, walking out of the bathroom, and moving my ragged suitcase over to the couch. Daisuke was on the phone, dialing his place's number repeatedly. After a moment or two, he hung up and put the phone in the counter next to the fridge. "They're not picking up. They might've left the city already."

I looked over to him, looking concerned. "I'm sure they're looking for you. You want me and mom to go by your home so you can see if they're there, or to get your things?"

He shook his head. "You don't need to do that. I can start life over again." I nodded to him. He didn't have any money, and the only clothes he had were the ones on his back. He was a grown man, I was sure he could find a way to live after leaving this hell hole. Me and mom would have to stick together. The world wasn't safe for women wandering alone.

Mom rushed out of her room, having three bags by her side. "You have your suitcase, Minoa?"

"Yeah." I replied, picking up my suitcase, and turning to face Daisuke. "Are you coming with us?"

"Will it be a problem?" He asked me.

"Not as far I'm concerned." I told him, and then I looked to mom, wondering what her response might be.

"You can if you want to, sweety." She reassured him, smiling, then rushed out of our door and down the stairs of the apartment. Mom's metamorphosis was strange. At first, she hated the thought of him even being around, and after one night, she took him in like she was his son and my brother. He was a friend to us, one of the few people we could trust. The revolution left my mother unsteady, and she felt like everyone she came across was a criminal against the law.

"Let's go." I said to Daisuke, picking up my bags, and struggling with my suitcase.

"I'll get that." Daisuke said, quickly walking over to me, holding out his hand. I smiled a little and gave him my suitcase. He grunted, a little stunned at how heavy the damn thing was, but a smile grew back, and he left the room to follow Mom. I balanced the other bags in my free hand, so it wouldn't be too much trouble for me, and I was the last one to leave our home. I didn't think I would ever miss the place. It was small, and it was always dirty, no matter how many times Mom cleaned it. I spent half of my life here, though. I stopped at the doorway, and took a last look at the small living room. I saw sparks of light from the window in the back. A nextdoor home was lit on fire. I gasped a little, knowing who the place belonged to, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. The city was under chaos, the only motive was to make it out alive.

Rushing down the many flights of stairs, I huffed and rearranged my bags constantly to where they would fit on my hands and wrists comfortably. I met with Mom and Daisuke outside, and together we avoided two miles of looters, policemen, and raging vehicles. For now, the "monster" was away from Neo Tokyo, but in a large location in Old Tokyo, where the explosion that ended WWIII took place, and left a giant crater. Military forces were heading to that direction in order to destroy the threat. Other officials were helping to lead all the people to evacuation routes on buses and trains. We had happened to find a bus in the middle of town close to where we were, that was taking anyone who needed to get out fast. We weren't in too much of a hurry, but we decided to get on so we could get out quickly, before the rush would catch up.

There was a line beside the bus, and slowly the people were getting on, and mom was getting impantient. She muttered obscenities about others in front of us under her breath, while me and Daisuke stood behind her. He was having a hard time trying to keep himself from laughing. I wasn't sure if mom would care if we did laugh at her. If she did, someone could end up with an injured crotch. Everyone just put their bags down beside their feet when someone in a wheelchair needed assistance getting aboard.

Helicopters flew over us, and someone with a megaphone was informing us about what was happening with the monster outside of town. Too bad he was incomphrehensible. Even shutting everyone up didn't help any. What seemed like a small earthquake made some people stumble. After the first wave, no one seemed to bother talking about it, Japan had it's fair share of earthquakes in the past, most of which crippled our whole city, and left most homeless. We always recovered quickly though. Another short, barely noticable wave fluttered under our feet. Daisuke looked at the ground, and then turned his head to something else. I blinked and looked in the direction he was. There were small explosions coming out from the crater, clearly visible from our location next to the bus. Something large, skin colored and mutating was bumbling around. One man noticed it as well, and was looking through a pair of binoculars that were hanging around his neck. He pressed the two scopes on his eyes, and his mouth gaped open.

"Shit..." He said simply, his expression in awe.

"What is it?" Daisuke asked him, an eyebrow raised.

"I have no idea... it's like a huge blob, with veins and fingers." He described the thing to us. Slowly, everyone else became aware of the event a mile away or so. They spoke among themselves, trying to guess what kind of creature was out there. Then we heard screams from the thing as we heard another explosion. At that start, everyone scattered, or climbed into the bus, not even caring about the old woman in the wheelchair. They trampled all over her. Mom turned to us, picking up my bag. "Let's go Minora, Daisuke, before the bus leaves us here."

I didn't move, and neither did Daisuke. We didn't want to be a part of the angry crowd. The bus driver rolled the woman over onto her back, and her eyes were rolled into the back of her head. She wasn't breathing. I sighed.

"I'm waiting for the next one." I told her. She gave me the look, as though I had some sort of flesh eating disease.

"Minora, have you gone crazy? There's enough room for all of us left if we can manage to squeeze in." She pleaded me.

"Not as long as that woman is there." I said, metioning about the dead woman left on the stairs on the bus.

Then my mother did something I never thought she would do. She turned and put all the items she was carrying and dropped them, and grabbed the body by the legs, and jerked it out. The body tumbled out, arms and legs twisted. My eyes were wide, and even Daisuke seemed to be amazed at Mom's rational behavior.

"Now will you get on?!" She nearly screamed at me. I backed away, and Daisuke didn't move, but he didn't make a sound. Mom nearly screamed at us in a near bark. "Why are you both so stubborn?! You want to wait and let that thing all the way over there kill you?!"

Again, we were silent, until Daisuke took a step towards her. "We'll get the next one. There usually is another one on it's way after one leaves."

Mom scowled at him. "Fine, have it your way. I'll only pray that I'll see you two again." She glared at us, before turning and pulling her bags up the bus. Then the doors shut, and as soon as that happened, the bus took off, dirt kicking off and making a fading brown cloud dissolve from the ground and up into the sky.

More howls and shrieks uttered from the crater, and me and Daisuke were the only two people left in the area. I looked over to the old woman, her body still not moving. It was now proven that she was now a cold and crusty corpse. "I hate crowds." I said to Daisuke, whether he heard me, I wasn't sure.

A few minutes passed, and Daisuke was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. "There isn't another bus coming, is there?"

I looked around, and I shook my head. "No, there isn't."

He sighed. "We'll find a way to get out." He stretched his legs out across the ground, and he looked over to the crater. "I wonder what the hell is going on over there."

"I don't know. It's scary though." I replied, me being curious as well to what the thing was. Then, there was a large explosion, and the blob was now bigger than ever, and engulfing the whole crater. "I'm starting to get scared. What if it keeps getting bigger?"

"I doubt it could get bigger. It if is just a bunch of skin, even skin has a limit." He pat the ground next to him so I could sit next to him. I nodded and plopped down beside watched the event still, and then there was a large, blue flash that blinded us. I rubbed my eyes, blinking quickly, and then I looked up, seeing a blue sphere slowly emerging from the crater. We both stood up in an instant, and the sphere kept growing larger and larger. The more it grew, the faster it was approaching us. It only took a minute for it to reach us halfway. Daisuke grabbed my hand, and pulled me after him, and we ran for our lives. That run had to be the slowest sprint in my life. While we were running, I was thinking about everything. My father in America, Tetsuo, Daisuke, Mom, the Clowns, all the other Capsules. I took one look back, and there was nothing but that bright blue light.

------------

Moments later, as the sky cleared, and sunlight peered through the clouds. The rotting motor of the last motorcycle left in Tokyo as a whole, glided across the broken road that lead through the destruction and remains of the city that once was. Some would live to survive, but the majority of the population that filled this city, and made it rise after the periods of hell that would break, was decimated.

**This Akira fanfiction is now finished. I hope everyone who has read it had enjoyed it. Sorry it took so long for me to pick up the pace again.**


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